Carhartt launches integrated campaign

Clothing company Carhartt launched an integrated campaign October 18 to promote its 100-year-old brand. The effort includes e-mail marketing, data collection and a contest.

The outerwear company worked with Team Detroit on the effort.

“Carhartt's integrated marketing campaign was created to reposition the Carhartt brand in the national retail space,” said Lindy Mueller, corporate communications representative at Carhartt. “We wanted to develop a campaign that would re-focus our consumers on the brand, specifically targeting 18-to-34-year-old males. It's also a fun way to visually demonstrate the toughness of the Carhartt brand to our diehard consumers and also to our new consumers who are just learning of us.”

The brand created the contest, the “Covered with Carhartt Giveaway,” to “capture the phenomenon where people write unsolicited stories on how [Carhartt] clothing protects them from injury and the elements,” said Brad Carse, group digital director at Team Detroit.

The company is asking consumers to “share their campfire stories” for an opportunity to win a t-shirt, a daily prize, or the grand prize of $500 in Carhartt gear.

The company is also conducting an e-mail marketing effort targeting consumers within its database. It will also launch a Facebook trivia game on October 19 based on the campaign's TV spot. Facebook fans have the opportunity to win the actual clothing used in the commercial, such as jackets, jeans, shirts, flashlights and boots, said Mueller.

The campaign also includes a dedicated microsite, GetCarhartt.com, which also links to the company's online store. The effort's microsite also has five alternate endings to the TV ad, which is airing on ESPN, History and the Discovery Channel.

Carhartt is also tying the contest to Facebook. People can “like” their favorite stories on the microsite and share them on the social network.

Carhartt is also collecting e-mail addresses to retarget consumers in the future, said Carse. Consumers are required to submit their e-mail addresses to submit stories to the microsite. The portal also includes an opt-in for upcoming e-mail promotions.

The company will measure contest and Facebook participation, sales generated, e-mail opt-ins and click-throughs.

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